


A Witch's Tale

by MillenniumAspen



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: I Tried, I had this idea while falling asleep, I spent all of Halloween on it, I'm actually kind of impressed, It took me eight hours to write, Other, Poor Constanze, Set in Akko's second year, she'll be okay though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-14 00:33:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16482692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MillenniumAspen/pseuds/MillenniumAspen
Summary: Halloween night, and Amanda decides to share a story of her family history.





	A Witch's Tale

It was against Professor Finnelan's wishes. Choosing to celebrate a holiday with “inaccurate and defamatory depictions of witches” and other magical creatures was worthy of expulsion for the first-year students who decided to take part in decorating the cafeteria. For several days leading up to the end of October, streamers had been hung from the center of the ceiling and balloons were tied to the stairway railings, all orange and black in color.

It was Headmistress Holbrooke who stepped in and allowed this to happen, despite the protests of the senior professors. “They're still very young. It won't hurt to let them have some fun on All Hallows’ Eve.”

Professor Finnelan had no choice but to give in then, although she did put her foot down when the students tried to bring in pumpkins that had been growing in the botanical garden. They would decay on the floor and leave a mess, which was a fair complaint. Instead the students decided to bring in plastic ones in their place.

As the night grew late on October 31st, the crowd in the cafeteria grew thin. It was a Wednesday, after all, and many of the students had early classes the next morning. Amanda leaned back in her seat, hands clasped behind her head and feet up on the table. Constanze sat beside her, focused on wiring the new model of Stanbot which was laid in her lap, as Jasminka pulled up more chairs to the table. As she took a seat opposite of Amanda, Diana grimaced.

“You know you will probably fall back and hurt yourself. These chairs are not built to be balanced on two legs. And get your feet off the table. People eat there.”

“Whatever, mom.” Amanda gave a nonchalant response as she continued to rock herself on the two back legs of the chair. Despite having developed a friendship with Akko months ago now, Amanda still found it to be unlike Diana to agree to come to a little get-together like this. Even Hannah and Barbara had grown to become more friendly to the group, although they were still far from what Amanda would consider friends. The girls in question apparently decided to tag along with Diana, as they took seats beside her.

“I brought some sweets!” Jasminka beamed, placing a plastic container of a dozen cupcakes on the table. The frosting of each one had been decorated to resemble a jack-o'-lantern.

“Oh, sweet!” Amanda slammed her feet down to the floor. “Thank, Jaz.” By the time she reached for the container, Jasminka was already taken two for herself. Amanda selected the one most easily in reach of her. Constanze followed suit, giving Jasminka her signature thumbs up.

“I appreciate the gesture, but I'll pass,” Diana commented. Despite this, Hannah and Barbara were all too eager to get their share of the treats.

“You're missing out, Diana,” Hannah giggled. Barbara nodded in agreement as she took a bite of her cake.

Amanda peeled away part of the wrapper and took her first bite. The sugary frosting was intoxicatingly sweet and she hummed, “Mm!” in response through her mouthful. As she wiped her lips on her sleeve, a familiar voice called out.

“Hey, sorry we're late!”

The six at the table glanced up to greet Akko, Lotte, and Sucy as they arrived. Diana offered them a smile. “Good evening, Akko. I'm glad you could make it.”

“Sucy was trying a new magical preservative on her mushrooms and we couldn't leave until she finished,” Akko explained with a calm sigh as she pulled out a chair near Amanda. Sucy slumped into the chair beside her.

“Mushrooms don't live very long, Akko. It had to be done.”

What had Amanda's attention, however, was the long, flowing dress that Lotte wore. A muted blue in color, it looked like something that came out of the Victorian Era.

“I love your dress, Lotte! It's the one Belle wore in volume 93!” Barbara chimed in.

“Uh, thank you,” Lotte replied as she scratched her cheek, taking her seat. “I didn't think anyone would recognize it. I was surprised when Professor Babcock said I could wear it today.”

For a few minutes, the group chatted like usual as they enjoyed the treats that Jasminka had brought for them. Akko talked at length about how much her magic had improved since she learned to fly that previous spring. Amanda had to admit she was impressed with the progress her friend had made.

“It's all thanks to Professor Chariot. She's been so nice and patient.” Akko was willing to shrug off most of the credit to her favorite professor. It seemed she had also grown more humble, or maybe she just loved Chariot that much.

As the conversation dragged on, Amanda found herself tapping her foot on the floor and drumming her fingers on the table. The cafeteria lights were dimmed as the faeries prepared to turn them off for the night, and Amanda could feel the tension among her friends in the darkness they suddenly found themselves in. Their talking died down. Amanda could not help the grin that tugged at the corners of her lips. This was the perfect atmosphere for what she even agreed to have this get-together for to begin with.

“They're probably gonna make us go back to our dorms soon,” Jasminka sighed, taking a moment to stop eating from the snack bag she had brought with her. Constanze groaned as she stared down at the Stanbot in her lap, before deciding to unsheath her wand to provide some light for her to continue working.

“Hey, it's Halloween so,” Amanda pulled out her wand as well, using it to focus light on herself, “why don't we tell some scary stories?”

Everyone's attention was on her now, so Amanda knew there was no going back. Akko was the first to speak up. “That sounds like fun! What did you have in mind, Amanda?”

“Oh, you know what's scary?” Barbara spoke up, stifling her laughter. “Apparently Apkallu is to Hannah. We watched the first movie the other night and she started to cry--” Hannah clamped her hand over her friend's mouth, scowling.

Everyone was silent for a moment until Amanda decided to speak up again. “Right. So this is the story of my family's history. We were from Ireland originally.” She stood up from her seat once she had the attention of all of her friends. “This story goes back to the Golden Age of Magic. At the time my family still lived there.”

“Get to the point,” Diana interrupted.

Amanda pointed her wand at Diana. “Quiet, Cavendish. A good story needs buildup.” She noticed that she already had Akko and Jasminka quite invested the tale. Both were staring at her, ready to hear more. Diana did not seem so amused. Amanda decided that she would just have to ignore her for now. “So anyway, I have an ancestor who lived in Ireland at this time. Her name was uhh...” Amanda tapped her wand against her chin, “...Moira O'Neill.”

“Wow, Amanda! Was she a witch? Did she go to Luna Nova?” Akko did not hesitate to start dishing out questions. Amanda was all too happy to oblige.

“Yes she was and yes she did! But Moira was kind of an outcast. See, she was so talented with magic and so hard-working that everyone was jealous of her.”

This time it was Lotte who spoke up. “I don't know, Amanda. That seems a little too perfect.”

“Yeah, especially since you didn't seem to inherit that talent,” Sucy added.

Amanda pursed her lips. “Excuse you! My magical talent is just fine. I just have my own way of doing things.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “So life was never easy for poor Moira. Even her teachers hated her because she was too good at what she did. Eventually she was expelled after an experiment went wrong, and she accidentally turned herself into a vampire!”

Akko and Jasminka gasped. Diana rolled her eyes. Constanze was the only one still not paying attention, remaining focused on her Stanbot. “What happened next?” Akko demanded as she sat up from her chair.

“Well like I said, she was expelled from Luna Nova. She was forced to live in solitude, since society wouldn't accept her as a witch, much less a vampire witch.”

“Oh please, Amanda,” Diana interrupted again. “The general populace of Great Britain did not harbor prejudice against witches during the Golden Age of Magic.”

Amanda grunted in response. “I don't need your constant input. Just let me tell the story.” She brought her wand close to her face, allowing it to be lit up, as she began to pace along the length of the table. “For the next three years, Moira worked tirelessly to find a cure for her vampirism, and grew more bitter about the way many had treated her. That is until a mob of townspeople discovered her shack. She was forced to flee, along with her three daughters, and go on the run.”

“So she had three daughters when she couldn't have been older than twenty?” Sucy asked. Her mouth stretched into a grin, baring her teeth. “Sounds like she got busy at a young age.”

“They were triplets!” Amanda snapped, glaring at the younger witch. “Christ, why do you guys need to keep poking holes in my story?”

“They were kind of there to begin with,” Hannah pointed out.

Clenching her teeth, Amanda decided to continue the story regardless. “Well anyway, Moira was eventually caught and thrown in a river with heavy chains, just like in the old days of witch persecution. At least her daughters survived because otherwise I wouldn't be here.” She gave a quick shrug.

Diana brought her hand to her lips and gave Amanda an inquisitive look. “So when does the supposed scary part come in?”

“I'm glad you asked.” Amanda's gaze shifted over to where Constanze was still working. “After Moira died, her ghost began to haunt Luna Nova, targeting the descendents of the students who once harassed her.” All eyes on her, she began to creep closer to her busy roommate, who was still none the wiser. “It is said that at night, you can hear the chains she drowned with being dragged across the floor, which is right before...” Amanda grabbed Constanze around the shoulders, “...she gets ya!”

Constanze startled with a loud squeak and the Stanbot model fell to the floor with a crash. Pieces of the robot scattered beneath the table. Amanda's stomach dropped the moment she realized what she had done.

“S-sorry, Cons,” she sputtered.

Constanze held a hand to her chest as she took shaky breaths. Once she had begun to calm and noticed the damage that had been done, her fright turned to tears. Sniffling and wiping her eyes with her sleeve, Constanze sprung up from her chair and faced Amanda with hands balled into fists. Before Amanda had a chance to say anything, Constanze stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving the pieces of her Stanbot behind. Amanda took at as meaning she expected her to do it.

No one said a word for a few seconds. “Is . . . Do you think Constanze will be okay?” Akko was the one to break the silence.

"Gosh, she seemed pretty upset,” Lotte added, pinching the fringe of her dress between her fingers.

Diana rose from her chair, followed by Hannah and Barbara. “I suppose we should be on our way. It was nice to spend some time with all of you, however short.”

“Yeah, seeing Constanze have a fit spoiled my mood,” Barbara agreed.

“Someone should probably go look for her,” Sucy suggested, although she made no attempt to move herself.

The flick of a wand at the corner of Amanda's eyes caught her attention. Jasminka levitated the pieces of the Stanbot off of the floor and collected them in the now empty cupcake container. The lid would not close around the parts, but at least it made it easier to carry them. The girl offered Amanda a pleasant smile. “I thought I would help a little.”

Heat swept over Amanda's cheeks and she gave a sheepish grin. “Thanks, Jaz.”

The group of eight exited the cafeteria together. The corridors of Luna Nova were already dark and empty, so they stuck close together with Diana in the lead. Before long they came to a stop as she addressed the others. “We're going to head up to our dormitory now. You five should do that same.”

“But what about Constanze? Shouldn't we find where she went first?” Akko insisted.

Even from where she stood at the back of the crowd, Amanda could not help but notice how Hannah had grown pale and she held her elbows close to her sides, hands covering her mouth. “Did anyone else hear that?” she whimpered.

The group grew silent. There was not a sound in the dark corridor. But then Amanda heard it. The sound of a chain being dragged. It was brief and distant, but unmistakable.

Amanda was rooted to her spot. No one moved. Then the noise came again. It was from behind the group, further down the corridor. Lotte gave a small squeak as the sound of the chain drew closer, but still no source could be seen.

With every time the noise came, growing louder, Amanda's hands shook more. Within thirty seconds her heart was pounding hard in her chest, but none of her limbs wanted to move. She was stuck. Hannah and Barbara clasped their hands together, whimpering. Akko, Lotte, and Sucy had huddled together.

“Guys, I swear I made the whole thing up.” Amanda's voice was only a whisper when she at last found it within her to speak. Her heart was in her throat once she could make out a large figure approaching them. Hannah and Barbara screamed in unison.

“Whoa.”

Amanda flinched as the light from a wand flickered on. Her eyes watered as they adjusted to it, but she was quick to make out a minotaur worker about ten meters down the hall, and beside him was none other than Professor Chariot. She held her wand in her outstretched arm before pulling it close to her chest once she could tell who was standing before her.

“Uhh, sorry, girls. I didn't mean to startle you. This faerie was just helping me move this chain to storage.” Chariot motioned to the minotaur beside her. Amanda noticed the massive chain that the beast had flung over his shoulder.

The group gave a collective sigh of relief. “You gave us quite a scare, Professor Chariot,” Akko admitted with a chuckle. Despite this, Amanda could not help but wonder what Luna Nova even needed a chain of that size for.

* * *

“Glad to see you made it back fine, Constanze.”

Constanze was laying back in her bed and made eye contact with Amanda as she entered the dorm. She sat up when she noticed Jasminka enter the room behind her, carrying the parts of her Stanbot. After closing the door, Jasminka placed them on Constanze's bed. Constanze stared down at them, lips parted, then peered up at her roommates.

“Yeah, I wanted to say I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that,” Amanda apologized, scratching the back of her neck. To her surprise, Constanze bounced up from her bed and flung her arms around Amanda. Amanda grunted as a breath was knocked from her. Despite her small size, Constanze had a lot of strength. “What? Does this mean you forgive me?” Amanda returned the hug more gently. Constanze nodded against her chest.

The two girls were suddenly pulled into a group hug by Jasminka. She giggled once they were all together. “Happy Halloween!”


End file.
